54 Comments

Great video, Carolyn. It’s about the Why for sure. What drives us, how big is our why? When we feed it, it can almost have a life of its own! When we forget, or get stressed, we can go in a tailspin. But, when we’re crystal clear, we can work through the night. Giddy Up Girl, and see you on Tuesday night as my Guest Expert on the Let’s Make You Shine Entrepreneur Series!

I like how this exercise takes me back to the core–kind of like a mental pilate! The way I live, I always want to come from inspiration. The hard part is to come from there even when I don’t feel like it. Act as if, in other words. But if I stop and remember my motivation and purpose, even if I can feel it, I can move towards my goal. Sounds like a plan!

I so agree! It’s all about tapping into your inner motivation, and remembering your larger goals and why you want to reach them. It also helps if you can envision your dream and capture the feeling of achieving it and living it. Thanks for the reminder!

Your message really hit home with me, Carolyn. I’ve often found that activities I’m excited about are the ones that are most closely aligned with my long-term goals. And the ones I put off or avoid altogether are things I’m either uncomfortable with or unsure about. If I can’t articulate how they link with my goals, I try and get them off my to-do list.

I like the idea of using “why” as a sorting question as well as a way to get motivated. Sometimes I’m avoiding the things I need to do to move my business forward and finding the “why” spurs me on. Sometimes, though, that same question is useful in telling me to just move on.

There are days when I feel so overwhelmed with all I’d like to accomplish,I forget why I am doing it at all. So, thanks for the reminder, Carolyn. Maybe if I remember that, I can get “back in the saddle!” LOL

Most days I can giddyup and go by visualizing the ‘why’. But occasionally I allow myself a down day (in the stable) to just recoup. I’ve learned that I need to do this guilt-free or else my ‘why’ loses its appeal.

Thanks for reminding me to think about the “Why” everyday, as not to get stuck in a rut and remember WHY I am providing my services, and most of all–what are the juicy bits that keeps me motivated and excited.

Carolyn, it’s so true that the WHY matters the most. My big WHY is all about my deep desire for women to feel FREEDOM – freedom of choice to live in joyful alignment with their Brilliance and Unique Definition of Success. It’s what I want so much for myself and other women. It’s why I do the work I do and why I support the organizations I do. Most of my generation’s parents, even if they had plenty of money, didn’t have that. They were tied to their companies (or their husbands’ companies). Many of them were locked down socially and spiritually too, perhaps without recognizing it.

What I hope my generation can have, beyond the last one (because we’re not statistically a richer generation or even as rich) is freedom of choice in how we live – who we live with and and what we do. It’s why I care so passionately about embracing diversity, about embracing people as they are individually, about not sticking our thumbs on the heads of same-sex couples who want to get married or of women who want abortions, about supporting other single mompreneurs, about supporting young people with good career advice.

My “why” has changed lately. I wasn’t aware of it until I took a deep look at it. It completely changed the focus of my business. It’s so funny how you can’t see things until you take a deep breath and look back.

Yep Carolyn love that! My why has been to help others out of there stuck health issue, financial picture or relationships. It’s been my main motivator for the past 15 years. If one person doesn’t have to have the difficulty I did then my Why has worked.

Carolyn,
I couldn’t agree more. We must love what we’re doing everyday, not just making our clients happy but ourselves happy as well.
Sometimes we must face those important questions. Should I spend more time at this and stop doing that? If we spread ourselves too thin do we get lost? Great reminder to look within and ask those big questions.

I love the horse riding analogy! Aaahhh, the WHY!
a great reminder to what I do as I continue to expand, and to ask myself the type of clients I would like to attract. I am finding that I get the most juice or joy out of clients that are motivated, inspired to shift their life after a major transition and am ready for the help to get there.